On election night this year, Deputy Supervisor Shawn Lavin defeated local businessman Dan Gagliardo in the race for Amherst Town Supervisor.
Typically, during the election cycle, candidates have a chance to speak directly with the disability community through local "Meet the Candidates" events hosted by independent living centers. However, Lavin did not appear this year, so BTPM NPR's Emyle Watkins sat down with him at a coffee shop in Williamsville to ask: why not? And what would he have said about how he'll tackle issues important to disabled residents?
TRANSCRIPT
Emyle Watkins: Hi, I'm Emyle Watkins, and this is the Disabilities Beat.
On election night this year, Deputy Supervisor Shawn Lavin defeated local businessman Dan Gagliardo in the race for Amherst Town Supervisor.
Typically, during the election cycle, candidates have a chance to speak directly with the disability community through local "Meet the Candidates" events hosted by independent living centers. However, Lavin did not appear this year, so I sat down with him at a coffee shop in Williamsville to ask: why not? And what would he have said about how he'll tackle issues important to disabled residents? Here's part of our interview, edited for length and clarity.
Shawn Lavin: And I believe that event kind of came in at mid- to early- October, usually with the election schedule by October, everything's kind of in stone, not on the agenda by then, not that you can't find time, but it just was a struggle to get there. With regards to the disabilities aspect for Amherst, we have a Disabilities Committee in Amherst, and it's one of the few that I'm aware exists in the Western New York area. That's a place for people who have disabilities to work with a liaison from the town board to find out what things the Town of Amherst can do to make it easier in the town of Amherst for people to attend meetings, to use our services, to be part of the process. And we do that. We have meetings regularly. I think Angela Marinucci is the current liaison for that. She done an exceptionally good job. So I would like to continue that organization and committee, because I think it has brought a lot of good information to the town and the board.
Emyle Watkins: What do you see as the biggest issues, quality of life, issues for people with disabilities in your municipality? What are some things you'd really like to tackle or you're paying attention to?
Shawn Lavin: I think just getting the word out there and letting them know that we can be helpful. If we don't know, we don't know, I think that was the real answer. If there's somewhere we're missing, if there's somewhere we can do better, the Town of Amherst is encouraged to hear anything that we can improve upon. And I think that anybody with disabilities and the committee in general, they've done a good job of bringing things to light that maybe people haven't been aware of, and then we adjust accordingly. I want to make sure we're continuing to do that in Amherst and for the future.
Emyle Watkins: One of the things I've heard from residents of Amherst are concerns over transportation, and that's a regional issue, right? For people with disabilities, a lot of them use paratransit, which only goes three fourths of a mile beyond a mainline bus route. And so when you get into these suburbs that may have bus routes along Main Street, but not out into the communities where people live. It causes issues accessing transportation, especially for blind residents or residents who cannot drive. Obviously, you don't have control over the NFTA, but do you see that being something that you'll be advocating for the town on or getting involved with learning more about?
Shawn Lavin: Yes to getting involved and yes to learning more about. Again, and I stand by it, if we can find a way to make the residents in our community with disabilities life easier, we're going to do what we can to do that. You're right, though, I don't have much of a sway with regards to the NFTA. They're an independent organization. Town of Amherst is a partner in it, but I'm here to advocate for residents. So, if there's something that my voice can lend credibility to with the NFTA. I'm going to do that.
Emyle Watkins: What if anything will you do as supervisor to try and advocate for, push for, encourage more accessible builds, low income housing? I know that's something totally in your control, but where do you stand on that issue?
Shawn Lavin: Well, I think from an Amherst perspective, what we have to get behind is expediting some of the process. The companies who are growing homes in our community need to know where they are in the process as soon as the project kernel starts. Because, do they devote resources to it, or is it a non-starter? The quicker you get to that decision point, the faster you move projects along, then the quicker you can let people, you know, build homes or apartments or condos. That's number one. Number two is the Boulevard Mall, for instance, is going to be a dense, walkable community, so you're not going to need, require, the public transportation you may have needed if you were in one of these suburbs, people can walk to Wegmans. They can walk to the Boulevard or Niagara Falls Boulevard or Maple and take a bus right from there. And I think when we get to a dense, walkable kind of community in that area, that's going to be beneficial, and something that draws not only people who might require that, but also the next generation. The next generation is looking for a walkable community, and I think that's a place you're going to gravitate towards.
Emyle Watkins: You can listen to the Disabilities Beat segment on demand, view a transcript and plain language description for every episode on our website at btpm.org. I'm Emyle Watkins, thanks for listening.
